KIDDLE'S CORNER
VIEW FROM A COACH
MEMBERSHIP STANDARDS
Elite coach Rick Kiddle tells it how it is. Here, he introduces us to an open water swim coaching and events initiative that he’s been working on…
As we saw in the December / January issue, open water swimming is one of the fastest growing mass participation sports going at the moment. As a result, entrepreneurs are creating new businesses, and existing companies are launching exciting initiatives to cater for this growth. I’m proud to be associated with one such initiative – in addition to H2Open, of course – and that is National Open Water Coaching Association (NOWCA). Along with Martin Allen, I set up NOWCA in 2010 to help improve
safety standards at open water swimming venues around Britain and beyond. Both Martin and I are tutors and assessors for the British Triathlon Federation and have been coaches and managers of open water swimming lakes for many years. We saw an opportunity to develop a course for open water coaches based on our own experience of coaching thousands of swimmers new to open water.
In addition to coaching development, NOWCA is launching a new ‘lake management system’ for open water swimming. This includes provisions for
lifeguards, coaches and swimmers, with the aim to take open
water swimming to levels of participation previously unseen, and ensure all swimmers enjoy a great experience every time they go into open water.
This lake management system will also allow swimmers to take part in a new weekly 400m ‘event’ – the NOWCA Swim – at 7am every Saturday morning at all NOWCA-accredited lakes. (While these events are free,the usual lake entry fees still apply.) All swimmers who join NOWCA will receive a special barcode that
allows them to be scanned into the lake every time they swim, and will also be used to record swim times for any NOWCA swim. All results will be uploaded to the NOWCA website, so that swimmers can compare their performance over time. Each lake will have its own page on the site, and as more results are added every week a comprehensive lake league table will develop. NOWCA membership costs £15 per year. We are running a
‘founder member’ off er until the season starts on 31 March, where you can join for life for a one-off fee. ○
Former British triathlon champion, triathlon and swimming coach, Rick Kiddle has coached British Gas employees and other swimmers including celebrities Jodie Kidd, in her British Gas Great Swim series event, and Vernon Kay for the London Triathlon. Contact him at
rick@rickkiddle.com with your comments, questions and suggestions.
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WHAT NOWCA GIVES YOU ○ High standards of safety, coaching and facilities at NOWCA accredited lakes
○ Training and certifi cation for open water swimming coaches; with resulting qualifi cations recognised by major bodies, including the Royal Life Saving Society
○ Information and services related to open water swimming via the NOWCA website (
nowca.org) ○ Membership benefi ts to open water swimmers ○ Facilitates the running of a free weekly NOWCA National Swim Event across all accredited lakes
○ The NOWCA-i-System, which is a lake management system that helps ensure swimmer safety, enables event/race time recording and facilitates daily swimmer data capture
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